by Raven Scott
“He just needs some time. How’s your face? You good?” He’d spent all night icing it down, and Parker nodded as he flipped back his long, wavy hair. Sniffling harshly, his cut jangled lightly, and I pointed at the little purple and pink beads dangling from his lapel. “What’s that? I’ve never noticed it before.”
“Ah, it’s nothin’, really. This little girl where I volunteer gave it to me, so my cut-off wasn’t so ‘gloomy’.” Surprise rose my brows, and Parker fingered the little accessory with a warm smile. He glanced up, feeling my stare, to shrug himself and bluster a sigh. “My grammy was into volunteering, and she always brought me along.”
“You lived with her or somethin’?” Parker and I were roommates, and friends, to an extent, but I didn’t really know a lot about him. He came into Warpath right before Davey, was a real numbers guy, which Spyder needed. But I didn’t spend a lot of time with him. Then again, forming this club is still new. We’re all learnin’ the ropes together. Parker nodded, and I pulled my pack of cigarettes out of my pocket with a low grunt of encouragement.
“Yeah, both my parents were in the military. I don’t get why they had kids if they weren’t gonna be around to raise them, but . . .” Trailing off, Parker reached to prod his black eye gingerly as a wry smirk stretched his lips. “Can’t really hate dead people, though. They both died in 2006.”
Wow, so he would’ve been a teenager. “What about your grammy?” Parker’s expression morphed into one of bemusement, and I struck a match before mumbling around my cigarette. “Still kickin’ it?”
“Oh, yeah. When my mom died, my grammy started berating her empty casket at the funeral, saying she was gonna live enough for both of them, and she kept up her promise.” I inhaled a deep lungful of toxic smoke and held it for a moment as Parker’s eyes glassed over before he shook his head. “She’s a tough, old bat. I wish I got some of that.”
“Every organization needs a nerd, Parker. Otherwise, we’d still be killing each other with sharp rocks.” The conversation stalled, and I exhaled slowly and flopped back my head. The stars were so bright out here, peeking through the trees, and I closed my eyes briefly. “We should get back on the road in a few minutes. It’s gonna be a long drive to Utah.”
“You think the kid can handle it?” I shrugged. I didn’t care if Rook was comfortable because, frankly, we had nowhere to go but south. Glancing over my shoulder, I frowned at my little cousin wallowing in his misery. “Guy’s got a good right hook. Spyder’s gonna have trouble reigning him in.”
“Spyder likes to pretend he’s a ‘violence as the last resort’ guy, but I know it’s not true.” Parker cast me a quizzical look through the gloomy, but I ignored him to look out into the cold forest. Going down the mountain had risen the temperature considerably, and I took a deep, calming breath of the pines. “Anyway, we should be getting back late. I have to call Spyder about what we’re gonna do with Rook.”
“At least it’s not cold as fuck anymore.” Rubbing his arms over his jacket, Parker scowled lightly, and amusement tickled my chest. Taking a deep drag of my cigarette, I let the conversation slip away on the crisp, night air. Flicking the half-smoked butt to the ground to crush it under my heel, I turned to my little cousin and frowned on the way back to my bike.
“Come on, kid. Time to go.” I nudged Rook’s back with my foot, and he grunted as he practically toppled over. Catching himself, he shot me a withering, bitter glare through the haze before clamoring to his feel. “You can sleep when we get back.”
“Why bother going through all this trouble?” Grumbling more to himself than me, Rook frowned as I held out my helmet for him. I arched a brow quizzically. A sour expression twisted my lips as he took the gear and put it on. His head was a lot smaller than mine—he was still a kid, that much was for sure.
“That’s what I wanna know, Rook. I’m doin’ it because Uncle Minter asked me to. I would’a done it without the incentive too, but I wouldn’t have been able to get Spyder on board. Whatever you’re runnin’ from, you’ll be safe from it in Utah. It’s gonna suck, you know that, but you’ll be fine as long as you don’t get into any trouble.” Throwing my leg over my bike, I settled into the saddle before Rook followed suit. He was cold against my back, and I kicked down the stand as thoughts shadowed my gaze.
“Hold it!” Parker’s shout raced down the cracks in the poorly paved road to me, and I twisted to find headlights wobbling through the darkness. The little car practically crawled down the narrow road. Even on bikes, we’d have to move out of the way for an SUV or a truck. A blinker flicked on, casting an orange light peeping through the night, and I frowned under tightly knit brows.
“Stay here.” I hadn’t even turned over my motorcycle, and I kicked down the stand to climb off. Wandering down the road, I wondered where I recognized that license plate. We were in Montana, but the plates were rentals from Idaho. The car pulled over deeper and deeper through the brush before stopping to idle, and my heartbeat faster as the color started to bleed into the glare of the headlights. “Oh.”
That girl. Worry seeped into my veins as I ducked under a sapling to knock on her window, but she was crying loudly and very obviously. Even through the frosted glass, I could see the tears streaming down her reddened face. Knocking a little harder, goosebumps swept up my arms when she jumped in the driver’s seat. At least she’s buckled.
Time slowed as she rolled down the window a crack, just enough to speak and hear me, and I leaned down to peer into her car. The locks clicked, the sound eased some of the tension between my shoulders. She’s not super drunk, at least.
“Do you need some help?” A white line formed around her lips before she blubbered a sob as if she just couldn’t hold it in anymore. Awkwardness curdled my gut. I couldn’t just leave her here, but I had twenty pounds of ketamine strapped to my bike. The woman that pitched me an attitude at the gas station yesterday cried, borderline hyperventilated really. Ah, fuck. “Roll down the window a little more and breathe. I’ll be right back.”
Walking back to the road and to my bike, I gestured Parker over as indecision warred in my chest. The smart thing to do with forty pounds of drugs would be to keep going, but the right thing was to make sure this girl didn’t get herself killed.
“You take Rook and go ahead. I’ll catch up.” Parker shot me an irritated look, and I fished my cell phone out of my pocket. I had no bars out here, and I shook my head roughly. “I can’t leave her here.”
“If she drove here, you can leave her here, Bruiser.” Parker’s tone was surprisingly harsh, but I glared nastily at him. Begrudgingly, he jerked his head in a nod, and I scratched my jaw roughly.
“Quit being a pussy. Go down the way we came up. You remember, right?” Snapping back at him agitatedly, I raked my hand through my hair absently as Parker grumbled to himself. Turning to my cousin, I threw a thumb over my shoulder at Parker. “You’re going with him. If neither of you has anything nice to say, don’t say shit.”
“Bruiser . . .” Groaning in foreboding, Rook scowled at me through the headgear even as he climbed his ass off my bike. I was gonna catch shit for this, I knew. Scratching my jaw hard as I walked back to my bike, I walked it over to the side of the road with glares slicing into my back.
The roar of an engine ripped through the frigid atmosphere, and I almost winced as it cut through the air. I held my breath as I walked back to the car; the woman had rolled the window all the way down and hung her head out of it, audibly gasping for air. Har car was running, the heat on blast, but her tank was going to be empty by morning if she kept this up.
“Hey,” Standing a few feet away, I cleared my throat when she made no move that she’d heard me, and she sniffled before her glassy eyes met mine. “You’re gonna run out of gas if you don’t turn your car off.”
“Y-you . . . you’re the guy . . .” she slurred heavily, her voice raw, and I leaned against a tree to cross my arms as she picked up her head a bit. “You were right. Why did I bring him?�
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“I take it went badly?” She nodded, lips puffing out miserably as massive tears welled in her eyes, and my heart twisted. “How drunk are you?”
“Not very. I didn’t plan this out very well.” She faltered as if she realized how terrible she looked, but I tried not to judge her. “Good news, Tom’s stranded on the mountain with no way back. Bad news, I don’t know how to get down by myself.”
“Okay, do you want to follow me down? After you’ve calmed down.” She nodded, wiping her face with the sleeve of her jacket. Fishing my phone out of my pocket, I held my phone up a bit, and miraculously a bar showed up, so I dialed Parker’s number as relief slithered through my veins. “Hey, she’s not drunk. I’m gonna lead her down the mountain, but stop where you are, and I’ll meet you when I can.”
“Thank God, I have no idea where I’m going. I don’t have GPS out here.” Parker’s voice thickened with excitement and relief of his own, and I grunted with a nod. “So, we’ll meet up in a few?”
“Yeah. Sounds good.” We hung up swiftly, and I turned back to the woman as she stared at me sheepishly. “Let’s get you outta here.”
Chapter Seven
Bruiser
Pulling up to the tow shop's front gate, I waited for the chain link to pull back before walking my bike into the lot. Rubbing the back of my neck, I flexed my feet in my boots as tiredness dogged the backs of my eyes. Pulling my helmet off, I nudged Rook with my elbow and paused to let him off, and he stumbled back onto his ass.
“How’d it go?” Spyder rubbed the top of his head as he sauntered out of the office, and I grunted lowly in acknowledgment. He sized up my cousin, who looked so much smaller than him, and nodded curtly before holding out his hand for a shake. “It’s nice to meet you, Rook.”
“Yeah.” My cheek twitched at Rook’s despondent reply, and I parked my bike up against the bay door to climb off. Sniffling harshly, I glanced over questioningly at Parker, but he simply shook his head. “You got a couch or somethin’ I could sleep on?”
“You’re gonna go home with Parker. They got a room you can use.” I told Rook while twirling my keys against my palm, I glanced around the yard for my truck. “You wanna call your dad?”
“No, I just wanna sleep. You call him if you wanna.” I waved Spyder over before making my way to my truck at the back of the lot. Rook meandered to the building to crouch against it, holding his head in his hands. He looked so young, and I sucked in a sharp breath to stop my ribs concaving around my heart. Spyder tugged his beard thoughtfully on his way over, the hot, morning sun beating down on us and reflecting off the bulky curves of my truck.
“So, Minter offered a free shipment every six months, which is far more generous than I expected. Whatever happened, Rook must be in some hot shit.” Spyder’s brows rose in surprise before drawing down in thought, and I leaned against the tail of my truck to tap the wheel cap listlessly. “What do you want me to do, Spyder?”
“Take it. I don’t think that kid is worth that shit, but who knows what’s goin’ on? If Minter, the fuck, is that concerned, who’re we to bargain? Free shit is still free shit, Bruiser.” Spyder skewered me with his eyes, and I resisted the urge to scowl as I turned away. “What happened out there? Parker said you sent him down alone with the kid. You weren’t supposed to stop.”
Licking my teeth absently, I felt like a dog being put in its place, and shadows engulfed my chest. I knew if in my position, Spyder would’ve done something.
“A girl I ran into, she got stuck on the mountain, so I made sure she wasn’t drunk and got her down the mountain safely. That’s all. I sent him off because I thought she was drinking, but she was just upset.” I wish I knew her last name so I could look her up. All I overheard that day at the gas station was her first name, Nicole. Regret stained my tongue, and I glanced over at Spyder as he scanned me through shrewd eyes. Given all the bullshit he went through with Bailey, I thought he’d be sympathetic, but no. Not in the least, apparently. “What?”
“Don’t do it again.”
“If she were Bailey, you would’ve done it.” I pointed out, but obviously, I shouldn’t have. Spyder lunged at me like a raging bull, ready to beat me into the ground if necessary.
“But she’s not Bailey, is she?” At Spyder’s question, I clenched my jaw hard, and I jerked my head in a nod before Spyder walked off back to the main building. He was like a whole different fucking person lately, and I wasn’t sure I liked it. Sure, at some point, it was obvious that he should be in charge and shit, but . . .
I missed a year ago when we could shoot the shit, and things weren’t so tense. Granted, Spyder has a reason to be on guard. It’d been months since Bailey got attacked, but Spyder still worried that someone, somehow, would find a crumb and turn it into a piece of toast.
Exhaling roughly, I climbed into my truck to grip the wheel and shake my head furiously.
Flexing my fingers around the leather bindings, I rested my head back as my vision blurred with memories. Oh yeah, that’s her name. Nicole.
My truck roared to life, and I back out of my space to pull up next to my and Parker’s bike to unload our saddlebags. I idled as Parker loaded up the bed, closed my eyes, and Nicole’s image blossomed behind my lids. She was pretty when she wasn’t a crying mess, although I doubted I’d ever see her again. I need to get laid.
The thought curdled my blood, and I rubbed my face with both hands to thread my fingers through my hair. Stretching my legs under the wheel, I slumped in the seat as my truck jostled around. The world felt like it turned slower these past few days, and my mind whirred through them leisurely.
Margot’s sleepy disposition was starting to rub off on me. It was about damned time, too, considering I’d lived here for over fifteen years. I wish something exciting would happen.
“Not ‘mortal danger’ exciting, either. Just something thrilling.” Mumbling to myself, I scowled lightly into my quiet truck cabin. I groaned softly, flinging my arm over my eyes as I fought a sneer at my own restlessness. “I should go to Vegas and let out some steam at some point.”
A hand beat against the side of my truck bed, and I sat up to jerk the gear into ‘Drive’ to pull toward the opposite end of the lot. The yard was a maze of cars and parts, and I leaned over the wheel to squint out the windshield. If I weren’t careful, I’d scrape my truck on a turn, and my teeth ached as I clenched them in concentration.
“Fu-uck me . . .” Wincing as I made it around an incredibly tight turn, I exhaled a rattling sigh when I finally made it. The scrap lot wasn’t that great for such a long vehicle, and I parked my truck in front of a large, metal barn. I climbed out to stare at the glorified shed, reaching to rub the back of my neck and up my head. “It’s somethin’, at least. I’m not sure what yet, but . . .”
My phone vibrated insistently against my thigh, and I fished the device out of my pocket to answer without checking who was calling me. “Yeah?”
“Bruiser-r-r . . .” Hailey’s bright, happy tone made me cringe, and I leaned against my truck to stare at the shed. “So, you’re supposed to be back from visiting your uncle today, right?”
“I’m back right now. Why?” Whatever she was planning, Hailey was excited about it, and I resisted the urge to pull the phone from my ear. “Does it have anything to do with the clubhouse renovations you talked everyone into doing? I mean, fuck Hailey, we all got shit going on. Would’ve been easier to hire contractors.”
“No, but I did wanna talk to you about that, too. Did you know Bailey’s birthday is next week? What’re you doing next week? I already talked to Spyder about taking her to Provo for dinner. I’m calling to invite you.” The hairs on the back of my neck bristled at that, and I closed my eyes briefly and held my breath. “Spyder’s footing the bill if that’s the incentive you need. Free food is the best food?”
“Of course, I’ll go, Hailey.” She squealed with happiness, swearing me to secrecy before hanging up faster than it took me to regret my decision. Bluste
ring a heavy sigh, I shook my head as I slipped my phone back into my pocket. Ever since Bailey was attacked, Hailey inched closer and closer, and I hated this feeling of being closed in on. I didn’t like Hailey being involved in something she shouldn’t be. It was one thing to know about it, but it was another to allow her so close that lies had to be spun. But it’s not my responsibility. Spyder’s the Prez. What he says goes. I already told him he’s a fucking idiot, but . . .
“You alright, Bruiser?” Glancing over the tail end of my truck bed, I shook my head as Cole slung his arms over the gate. He cast me a quizzical look, and I walked over to unhook the gate and grab a few bricks. “You’re not gonna say anything else?”
“I’m just restless. Did you get invited to this thing Hailey’s trying to do for Bailey?” Changing the subject, I jutted my chin at the contents of my truck, and Cole nodded as he hoisted himself up into the bed. “She just called me.”
“Yeah, she called me this morning. I know you’ve got your reasons to be wary about Bailey, so I’m not gonna tell you to suck it up or anything, but I also think it’s okay not to be an asshole to her.” My cheek twisted in agitation at Cole’s smooth words, and I carried my armful around my truck to kick open the shed door. The place was a mess. Hailey wanted to transform this shed into a hangout, but she couldn’t do any of the work, so she convinced everyone at the damn club to pitch in. Add in the fact Spyder was a paranoid bastard, and we were shit outta luck with no contractors helping us with this shit. Setting my bricks on the floor in the corner, I knelt down to pull a switchblade from my pocket. “What’re you doing?”
“It’s a ketamine brick. My uncle wouldn’t dick us around, but I like to check anyway.” Grumbling more to myself than Cole, I glanced over my shoulder briefly before slicing open the packet. A thick, pasty, white substance seeped out of the slit, and I dragged my finger through to examine the gum.